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The UK Government has this week ignored its human rights obligations to children in secure training centres (STCs) by endorsing the use of deliberately painful restraint techniques by prison staff on children as young as 12 (so-called 'pain compliant' techniques). The independent review of restraint in juvenile secure settings, published by the Government this week together with its response, reports the shocking accounts the review's co-chairs received from children of their experiences of violence and intimidation at the hands of prison staff. One child states: 'I've had staff here lift me off my feet by my head. You fear for your life here, I'm scared they're gonna hurt me.' The Government's response makes no mention of these statements by children and fails to make clear how it will ensure child prisons and individual staff members are held to account for the unlawful use of force. Carolyne Willow, CRAE's national co-ordinator, said: "Ministers would have us believe that children in custody are big and strong and out of control. The harrowing testimonies of children interviewed in private as part of this review show that children are scared, overpowered and hurt during restraint. Some even think they are going to die. This was an opportunity for Ministers to withdraw all forms of restraint which deliberately aim to cause pain, in line with international human rights law and recent UN and Council of Europe recommendations. After all this waiting, what do we get? Staff in young offender institutions, where more than eight out of 10 children are held, can continue to swipe children across the nose during restraint and staff in secure training centres can still bend back children's thumbs and dig under their ribs. "The Government's response is laden with civil service speak. For example, the independent review recommends that all prison staff working with children should undergo relevant training. The Ministers respond, 'Our objective is to move to a position [where all staff receive this training].' What does this mean? That training will happen next year, the year after or after the next child death? "We are still pressing Ministers to release the training manual showing which child restraint methods are in use. The law must explicitly prohibit corporal punishment in all child prisons and prevent Ministers from authorising restraint methods which deliberately hurt children." Deborah Coles, Co-director of INQUEST, added: "How can we have confidence in the government's commitment to meaningful change when at the time the restraint review was delivered to Ministers in July 2008 they were trying to overturn the judgment of the Court of Appeal that the existing rules on restraint were unlawful and exposed children to the risk of inhuman and degrading treatment. Surely we can think of a better solution than hurting children in order to manage them?" NSPCC head of policy and public affairs Diana Sutton said: "The NSPCC is disappointed that the Government has not taken the opportunity to protect children completely from pain reliant restraint techniques. These techniques can cause physical and psychological damage to children. "Children in custody have often experienced violence in their lives and are particularly vulnerable. Our primary concern is their safety and welfare." Further information